The ManicaPost
Lovemore Kadzura
Rusape Correspondent
ABOUT 50 farmers from Headlands have received a major boost following the signing a $40 million input financing deal with the Agricultural Finance Corporation (AFC).
The deal has enabled the farmers to plant 365 hectares this season.
The farmers under the auspices of the Headlands Small Scale Farmers Association (HSSFA) have received seeds, fertilisers and chemicals in a move that is expected to improve yields.
They will repay the loan at an interest rate of 48 percent per annum.
The services are payable in local currency or in the form of grain through a stop-order facility with the Grain Marketing Board (GMB).
AFC had earlier on provided eight tractors to the association to ameliorate land preparation and planting.
The gesture came as relief to many small-holder farmers who were struggling to raise foreign currency that was being demanded by private tillage service providers.
Most of the affected small-holder and communal farmers lacked tillage muscle after most of their cattle succumbed to the January disease that swept across the province last year.
HSSFA leader Mr Innocent Magutakuona applauded AFC for rescuing desperate farmers.
He said the deal is a game changer as it made it possible for stranded farmers to go back into the fields.
He said most farmers are struggling to buy inputs on the open market as they are priced beyond their reach.
“The association has entered into two mutually beneficial agreements with the AFC. The deals will certainly boost the capacity of small-holder farmers to be productive. The bank first empowered farmers with eight tractors to enhance land preparation and planting.
“We have graduated from using ox-drawn ploughs to tractors. This will improve in the mechanization of small-holder farming operations and ultimately their production capacity and output.
“Most small scale farmers are not mechanized and cannot afford the steep prices being charged by tillage service providers. So far 50 farmers have been given inputs worth $40 million to grow maize on 365 hectares in Headlands.
“The bank availed a full package that is adequate to the farmers. They paid direct to the inputs suppliers and the farmers are just collecting,” said Mr Magutakuona.
Mr Magutakuona said the repayment rate and conditions are favorable and will leave farmers with a profit.
“Some farmers who used to grow a hectare of maize have managed to plant up to five hectares, thanks to the partnership with the bank. We are currently in talks with them for sugar beans financing and supply of irrigation equipment,” said Mr Magutakuona.
A beneficiary of the programme, Mr Jacob Maunganidze said the partnership with the AFC has enabled him plant three hectares, up from 0,5ha planted last year.
He is expecting to harvest seven tonnes per hectare.
“Last year I planted half a hectare because I did not have enough capital to plant a bigger portion. Things changed for the better as the inputs were availed by the bank. I am expecting about seven tonnes per hectare,” he said.
